Nella lotta

In the bustling heart of 1880s Milan, fresh graduate Roberto Arconti moves between the glitter of the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele and the quiet dignity of his family townhouse. He is a bright young engineer, poised for a promising career, and, like many of his classmates, he is expected to follow a path paved by his father’s reputation and his own academic success. The story opens with Roberto’s affectionate farewell to the Dal Bono women—a mother and her striking sixteen‑year‑old daughter, Lucilla—whose dark eyes and confident poise have already sparked the whispers of a future marriage.

Roberto’s return home reveals a household where expectations sit alongside tender moments: a playful encounter with the porter’s boy, a hurried climb up the marble stairs, and the weighty presence of his father, Mariano, whose weary demeanor hints at a conversation that could alter the young man’s plans. Against the backdrop of fashionable cafés and family obligations, the novel captures the delicate balance between youthful ambition, blossoming love, and the pressures of a society eager to shape one’s destiny.